Looking beyond controlling fat
People tend to look at fatty foods as the cause of their dietary problems. I agree that if you eat plenty of fatty foods such as butter and cream, you will put on an enormous amount of weight. However we need to examine the role of carbohydrates. From our biology lessons we know that carbohydrates are responsible for energy. If you do not use the energy that you have accumulated what happens to it? The simple answer is that it is stored on your body as either fat or muscle. If you do not exercise it will be fat but if you exercise then it will be muscle.
The people who simply concentrate on the fatty foods side of things will miss out on the very important aspect of carbohydrates. The only way to avoid this situation is to think of dieting in terms of having a balanced diet. If you are always aiming for a balance diet then you cannot really go wrong. Unfortunately people do not want to do the difficult part of undergoing a balanced diet. They prefer the quick results of temporary fads and quick fix solutions.
I have to admit that there have been some interesting diets that either include carbohydrates or completely exclude them. The weirdest for me has been the Atkins diet. I never really understood what that was about! Imagine a diet where you could eat any amount of proteins that you liked as long as you did not take any carbohydrates. What seemed even more surprising is that it seemed to work for a time until the people started reporting unpleasant side effects.
Nevertheless it provide a good example of how carbohydrates can affect the dietary success of those who take them. For sports people the carbohydrate is an essential part of their preparation for a match. I would take the same approach if I was going to the gym. You should ideally take enough pure carbohydrates to give you the energy to sustain you in a long work out. If you just cut them out of your diet, you will not have the energy to finish your program and it is highly unlikely that you will lose weight effectively. Effective weight control programs require that you take the time to study your body and work out how it will react to different changes in the dietary program that you are using.
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Jeff is the founder of Full Meal Deal:
"I'm an impromptu guy with a scatter-brain. I love my family to the power of infinity & am a pretty good dad, husband, cook, & photo artist (if I say so myself)."